Show r Ia Kathleen Norris Norr i s Says Learning earning to For Forgive ve gi-ve Bell Boll Syndicate Features I I e 9 re i 1 1 tt t s sS s'S S 'S i t f lIe fie looks with willI curiosity annoyance and even eien jealousy while you care for lOT his hiJ son By KATHLEEN NORRIS I UR soldiers are going to O OUR need a great many things when they come comeback comeback back from the battlefronts One of these is forgiveness Forgive them you say I indignantly What on earth have we to forgive them Our I. I heroes who have faced dangers dangers dangers dan dan- gers homesickness seasickness seasick seasick- I ness boredom wounds cold and heat epidemics and insects insects insects in in- sects and fatigue fatigue and and you say forgive them Why cry the mothers and wives of America were going to give them the most royal welcome returning returning returning re re- re- re turning boys ever had were we're planning planning planning plan plan- ning meals that will build up those wasted hospital-wasted bodies and t those ose limbs thinned in jungle heat They are going to be lords of the earth when they come home homel homelAnd And just the same I say Forgive Forgive Forgive For give them Forgive them their bitterness their scorn They'll look at the prettiness and safety of home life with weary contemptuous eyes Its It's doggoned important Is it that it-that that wedding announcements are engraved engraved engraved en en- graved rather than printed Weve We've got to have parsley on that have we Ma Ia It broke up Bettys Betty's life that I forgot that that fool girl telephoned telephoned telephoned tele tele- phoned her did it They Hope to Shock You Forgive them their politics They wont won't know what they think but they'll be positive with criticisms opinions discussion of socialism communism labor rights rights of servicemen ex-servicemen and they will take great pains to say what they hope will shock you Nothing will be sacred to them them them-n in conversation at least least and and if you hold for the preservation preservation preservation pres pres- of marriage ties tics they'll arI argue argue ar ar- ar- ar I gue for tor license and free love I Forgive them their strangeness Youre You're accustomed to the daily home events You love the baby so much much having having loved him all those months for tor both father and mother that that the trouble that is a baby is no trouble to you With Tom its it's different dif dif- ferent He looks on with curiosity annoyance and even jealousy while you care for tor his son Do you have to run upstairs every time the kid yips Does he always smear himself himself him him- self sell up that way at meals Cant Can't Cantwe we leave him with a neighbor one week-end week and go of off for one of our old good times You'll have to forgive forgive forgive for for- give him that Forgive them their uselessness To some of them this terrible experiment experiment experiment ment of war has come just at the wrong time Its It's hard to go back Into college its it's harder still to get into employment for which they're not fitted They will drift The big bigboy bigboy bigboy boy just out of uniform will come comedown comedown comedown down late to breakfast breakfast and and little sister will look questioningly at you Is she supposed to hang around until 10 o'clock to cook eggs for tor Billy You will suggest to him that he might like to see Uncle Joe about going into the paper mill or Cousin Roger about a job at the hotel He will nod his mouth full of your good waffles but he wont won't go to see either A spring has been broken In his young fine up make-up and it t may maybe maybe maybe be months before that spring is reThey reThey rey re- re 6 y 1 They arc bitter litter and cynical I r READJUSTMENT TO PEACE Wives mothers and friends o of f returning veterans find that the young men they used to know and love have come comeback comeback comeback back strangely different They are bitter and cynical often They are unsettled difficult touchy They want to be shocking in ideas attitudes attitude and speech in many cases Tile They are difficult to live with Many wont won't fit into any job They just sit around the house morose and dull or else tiresomely tiresomely tire- tire garrulous Going back to school under the G. G I. I Bill Billo o of f Rights doesn't look attractive attractive attractive tive to many men There just doesn't seem scent to be anything they really want to do Some have gnawing consciences consciences consciences con con- sciences about incidents while they were away Maybe they got involved in some sonic black market deal A Anum number ber have been unfaithful to their wives while enduring the loneliness and amI misery of f war tear in m distant lands All this Miss Norris says must be forgiven These men have survived terrible experiences particularly horrible to young oung impressionable soldiers built and he is geared to normal home life again Recovery is Slow Forgive him you mothers of ot wounded boys his lIes lIe's been hurt patched bandaged hes he's been In splints or on crutches his young blood and young courage and young oung strength has been drained away from him and he cant can't regain what he has lost in a hurry Hell He'll be fretful talk symptoms symptoms symptoms toms bore you all with his history Not for long but until he gets on his feet In nerves and mind and soul and body again And finally some of you wives forgive forgive forgive for for- give him that he hc put someone else In your place for awhile In loneliness loneliness lone lone- loneness ness and distance men need women for comfort and when any friendly attractive woman is near home seems very far away When he comes back to you and perhaps blurts out his regret and his surprIse surprise surprise sur sur- prise at what he did forgive him then It Is part of the total world ruin of war that so many wives find It Impossible to forgive this one thing But it isn't the worst offense a tired lonely hungry despairing despair despair- ing man ever committed Cruelty and injustice and abuse of power power- these crimes leave deep scars But reaching out wearily for companionship companion companion- ship and affection when the home affection and companionship for which he longs is not accessible this Is some thing to be forgiven forgIven and and forgotten As we forgive those who trespass against us we all are to be forgiven some day Lay up in the spiritual banks for yourself an emergency fund of divine forgiveness |